The judge handling former United States President Donald Trump's Georgia election case is set to issue a protective order following a video evidence leak.
The protective order would bar the public release of sensitive evidence exchanged between prosecutors and lawyers that represent the Republican businessman and his co-defendants in their election interference criminal cases in the state.
Protective Order in Georgia Election Case
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said during a hearing on the proposed order that the case should be tried and not in the court of public opinion until they decide what is going to be relevant and admissible.
Prosecutors sought the order from the judge and it was agreed to by the majority of the defense teams on Wednesday. The situation came after a leak this week to media outlets regarding videos that contained confidential interviews of four co-defendants. These include attorneys Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, and Kenneth Chesebro.
During the hearing on Wednesday, attorney Jonathan Miller, who is representing defendant Misty Hampton, said that he gave the video footage to "one media outlet" but did not identify which one, as per CNBC.
Miller added that the public had the right to know what the four co-defendants involved in the case had told the Fulton County District Attorney's Office. He argued that the statements they made during the discussions would "help my client."
The first reported remarks from the video footage were made by Ellis and Powell during their so-called proffer videos. Later on, there were more reports that showed proffer videos of Chesebro and bail bondsman Scott Hall.
Prosecutor Nathan Wade said that the District Attorney's Office will designate what evidence is considered "sensitive" and will then be subject to the judge's protective order. Sensitive information would include proffer videos, confidential business records, personal identifying information, and other things that they said make sense by nature to be confidential.
Leaked Proffer Videos
On the other hand, an attorney who represents co-defendant Harrison Floyd said that his client opposed a protective order entirely. Another attorney who is representing multiple media outlets argued that the judge's potential protective order in the case cannot be issued because the standards for such have not been met, according to ABC News.
Despite the opposing views, Judge McAfee said that he would move with some sort of protective order. He argued that such an order would "mitigate" any issues surrounding the potential jury pool and keep the discovery process flowing.
Ellis and Powell were originally indicted at the same time as the former president and 16 others as they are accused of trying to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results. The first two later took on plea deals that allowed them to plead guilty to reduced charges in exchange for their cooperation.
Ellis' proffer video that was leaked featured where she recounted a conversation that she had with Trump adviser Dan Scavino. The latter allegedly said that the former president would not leave the White House regardless of the election results. Additionally, Powell testified that Trump was repeatedly told by others that he had lost the race, said NBC News.
